Attitudes Towards Epilepsy Patients and Opinion on Stigma for Epilepsy Among University Students

Abstract

Objective: In this study, the attitudes of health students towards epilepsy patients and their views on stigmatization were evaluated. The relationship between different academic variables and sociodemographic characteristics, and attitude scores and stigma scores were investigated. Method: This cross-sectional study was conducted between March 15 and June 15, 2021. The population of the research consisted of a total of 674 students studying at the Vocational School of Health Services and the Faculty of Health Sciences. The Student Information Form, which was created by using the literature, as well as the Public Attitudes towards Epilepsy (PATE) and the Epilepsy Stigma Scale were used as data collection tools. Results: While 79.6% of the students stated that epilepsy is a neurological disease, 59.2% of them stated that epilepsy is caused by head trauma, 40.5% of them learned about epilepsy from school, 47.8% of them stated that they had knowledge about the intervention of epileptic seizures. It was determined that the students' PATE Scale sub-dimension mean scores and ESS mean scores were low, their attitudes towards epilepsy were positive and they did not stigmatize. It was determined that as the students' positive attitude scores towards epilepsy increased, their stigma scores decreased. Conclusion: The most reliable source for patients to obtain information about epilepsy is health personnel. For this reason, it is recommended to plan changes and arrangements in the course curricula to increase the knowledge level of students studying in the field of health.